Posts Tagged ‘
agriculture ’

The spotlight was on 12 remarkable women Thursday, June 19, at the State Capitol as Connecticut’s Conservation Partnership recognized them for their work in agriculture and natural resources conservation. This year’s theme was Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment: Stories of the Extraordinary Determination of Women, and the event honored the exceptional and often unrecognized determination and tenacity of women in a non-traditional field.

Interview with Martin Ping, executive director of the Hawthorne Valley Association in New York’s Hudson Valley, conducted by Melinda Tuhus The fourth annual Slow Living Summit took place this year in Brattleboro, Vermont, June 4 through 6. Among the keynote speakers was Martin Ping, executive director of the Hawthorne Valley Association in Ghent, New York.[continue reading…]

Bryan Hurlburt, a former state representative and now executive director of USDA Farm Service Agency, recently addressed many of his former constituents in an informative discussion about resources for farmers. The former representative from the 53rd District has taken his agricultural expertise to the federal level. For more on this story, visit: Agricultural assistance programs[continue reading…]

Today, Food & Water Watch and its European project, Food & Water Europe, released the first comprehensive analysis of the U.S. government’s strategy, tactics and foreign policy objectives to promote pro-agricultural biotechnology policies worldwide. Biotech Ambassadors: How the U.S. State Department Promotes the Seed Industry’s Global Agenda examines more than 900 State Department diplomatic cables[continue reading…]

The Governor’s Council for Agricultural Development is in the midst of creating a strategic plan for Connecticut agriculture. As part of that effort, it seeks input from stakeholders involved in agriculture in the state. Please provide input at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GCAD_Stakeholder_Input_Aug_Sept_2012. This survey consists of a dozen questions that should take only five to ten minutes of[continue reading…]

Two north central Connecticut legislators are pushing for the creation of a select committee that would focus solely on agricultural issues — an area that they say deserves heightened awareness right now. The Hartford Courant reports.

In an era when jobs haven’t exactly been growing on trees — Connecticut is betting that they just might. And on bushes. And even indoors. Some half-dozen years after the Rowland administration tried to all but eliminate the state’s Department of Agriculture, the Malloy administration is embracing the state’s $3.5 billion, 20,000-job agriculture industry as[continue reading…]

“There needs to be a lot better effort to educate local regulatory officials, and in some cases, state regulatory officials, on the importance of farming and agriculture, and that there are certain inherent smells, odors and activities associated with farming that local regulations ought to take into consideration.”

If the economics of tight-knit walkable communities outperform suburban counterparts by more than 200 percent, as studies by the firm Public Interest Projects in North Carolina and Florida (Miami pictured above) have recently shown, then smart growth should be a goal.

The appointment of Steven Reviczky as state agriculture commissioner is good news for farmers and for those who believe in protecting Connecticut’s dwindling farmland from further development, The Day reports. Farm Bureau president “cannot think of a better person” for the new Governor’s staff.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced on Dec. 29, 2010, that goods such as furniture, flooring, lumber and fencing made from wood harvested in Connecticut forests will now bear the popular “Connecticut Grown” marketing label.

Small poultry farmers in Connecticut who are looking to expand their business and grow jobs will now be able to do so thanks to a new law approved by the General Assembly, according to a news release from state Sen. Edith Prague.

A study of agriculture in Connecticut found that the industry provides $3.5 billion a year in sales — an output that translates to $1,000 per Connecticut resident. The industry also generates 20,000 jobs statewide, two-thirds of which are from farming alone.

Additionally, the industry contributes about $1.7 billion in ‘value added,’ which is the difference between the value of output and the cost of raw materials — the money left in the hands of residents and business taxes, both of which stay in Connecticut.

The CFB is holding a series of free seminars statewide to help explain PA 490 and to distribute the Bureau’s latest PA 490 guide to landowners, government officials and anyone interested in how the law is applied.